Ballot-holder



(No Mdel.) 2 Sheng-sheet 1.

K. DOUGAN.

. BALLOT HOLDER.

No. 440,545. Patented Nov. 1'1, 1890.

Wz'znesses:

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2'.

(NQ Model.)

K. DOUGAN.v BALLOT HOLDER.

. Patented Nov. 11, w1890.

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Wo'nesses:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

KENNEDY DOUGAN, OF MISSOULA, MGNTANA.

BALLOT-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 440,545, dated November 11, 1890.

Application tiled January 9, 1890. Serial No. 336,370. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern,.-

Beit known that I, KENNEDY DoUeAN, of Missoula, in the county of Missoula and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ballot-Holders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvementin ballot-holders; and its objects are to provide aballot-holder with a roll of paper of suitable width and of suiiicient length to allow any desired number of ballots to be cut or torn from it, and which ballots are drawn from the roll as rapidly as one is out or torn off by the mechanism connected to the ballot-box for that purpose, and to provide a mechanism which shall regulate the length of each ballot that is to be cut or torn from the roll.

Figure l is a plan view, partly in section, showing a ballot-holder which embodies inyinvention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a mechanism which is connected with the ballot-box for drawing the ballot out of the ballot-holders. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section. Fig. 5 is a View of a portion of a recording-machine in which the holder is placed, showing the holder vplaced therein and some .of the rods passing through it for operating the recording mechanism.

A represents the frame of the ballot-holder, which will be given any length, size, or shape that may be preferred, and which is provided with a handle B at one end. Upon the top of this ballot-holder will be printed, painted, written, or otherwise marked the names of all of the candidates of the different parties to be voted for, and opposite each name -of each candidate is a perforation or opening C of any suitable shape, and these openings extend entirely through the frame. Secured to the under side of the inner end of the ballotholder A is a circular box D, in which is placed a roll of paper of any desired length and width, but which is intended to be sufficiently long` to supply all of the voters who may use the ballot-holder in a single day with ballots,A and thus save the time and trouble of inserting a separatev one each time a vote is to be recorded. This roll of paper will be blank, and thus save the necessity of having to print the separate ballots, as has heretofore been found necessary to do. The outer end of this roll of paper is always in the position shown in Fig. 2, and extends along under the two rows of holes C, ready to be perforated, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

In order to prevent the judges orinspectors of election from seeing how each voter has voted, there will be placed in direct contact with both the top .and bottom sides of the frame A the endwise-moving slides E, which consist of narrow pieces or strips of metal just i wide enough to cover the perforations, and which are secured to thetop of the frame by means of thelinks F. To the inner end of each of the slides E is connected a link G, which is connected at its outer end to the spring-actul ated thumb-piece H. When the thumb-piece is forced forward bythe voter, these slides force the slides E outward and backward so as to expose the openings C; but as soon as the thumb-piece is released the spring instantly` returns it to position and draws the slides E back over the perforations C.

Placed under the top of the frame is an endwise-moving slide I for every perforation C, and these slides have only an endwise movement, and that when direct force is applied to either their inner or outer ends for that purpose. The inner ends of these slides are notched or rounded out, so as to allow the perforating-needle to vpass down through the l its normal position, is forced forward, so that its inner end will cover its corresponding perforation C.

When a voter wishes to vote for any one candidate, he takes the perforating-needle and forces it down or up through the perfo.-

IOC

ration opposite the candidates naine after he has moved the thumb-piece II, and thereby moved the slides E, so as to leave all of the perforations exposed. As the tapering needle passes Clown or up through any one of the perforations C, it forces the corresponding plate I backward from over the hole C, and a corresponding perforation is made in the paper ballot. As eac-h slide I is forced backward, its end, provided with a flange or catch, is forced under the grooved locking-plate J, and is thus held in position, so that the ballot cannot be tampered with even by the voter himself. After the slides have been forced forward so as to cover the perforations they remain in that position until positive force is applied to them to force them backward,when they are caught by the locking-plates J'.

Loosely connected to the ballot-holder underneath its top by means of the link L are the endwise-moving rods M, which are also given a backward and forward lnovement by the links. These rods have their outer ends turned outward, as shown at N, so as to engage with the slide O, which is provided with a projection P, which extends through the top of the ballot-holder, and which slide is operated by suitable catches or other devices placed in the ballot-recording machine, and which moves the slide O outward toward the outer end of the ballot-holderas it is removed from the machine. Then the Aslide O is moved outward, its bent or U -shaped ends engage with the projections II on the outer ends -of the rods M to cause the rods M to both move endwise and to move toward the outer ends of the slides I. As these rods INI move both endwise and inwardly, they catch under the edges of the locking-plates J, so as to raisel them far enough to release the plates I, which have been forced backward by the needle, and then the rods M strike against their outer ends so as to force them back into position to canse their inner ends to again close the perforation. The links L are placed at such an angle to the rods M that the links can never get into a straight line with the slides I, and hence when the slides I are forced back by the needle the rods M are forced backward by the pressure of the outer ends of the slides I, and then the act of removing the ballot-holder from the vote-recording machine into which it is to be inserted causes the rods M through the slide O to be moved back into position again, and at the same time return the slides I to position so as to destroy all evidence as to how the voter voted.

This ballot-holder containing the perforated ballot is placed in a vote-recording machine, which is provided with a number of endwise-moving rods O', which pass through all of the perfor-ations which have been made through the ballot for the purpose of operating corresponding registering mechanisms in the machine. Vhere no perforations have been made through the ballot opposite the names of the candidates, the slidesIcover the perforations C, so that the endwise-moving rods O in the recording-machine cannot pass through the ballot-holder for the purpose of operating the corresponding registering mechanisms. The slides I serve to protect the paper from being perforated by the endwisemoving rods in the vote-recording machine, and hence when the slides have not been forced back by the needle the rods descend and rest upon the tops of the inner ends of the slides, but do nothing more.

In order to withdraw the blank perforated ballot from the holder after the vote has been recorded in the vote-recordingmachine, there are two rollers P, journaled in suitable bearings Q upon the outerend of theballot-holder, and these rollers are slightly enlarged at their centers, so as to exert sufficient trictional contact against opposite sides of the ballot to be caused to revolve as the ballot is withdrawn from the holder. These rollers P are operated entirely by the movement of the roller in the ballot-box. In order to regulate the length of each ballot, a screw-thread R is formed upon the upper rollerPnearone end, and placed upon this rolier is an endwisesliding frame S, which has a hinged portion T, which carries a screw U to move with a thread R when the frame T is moved into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. Then the ballot is to be withdrawn from theholder, the frames S T are moved toward the center of the roller P as far as the screw R will allow, and then the part T is closed over upon the top of the frame S, so that the threads U R will move together. Before this frame S can be moved upon the roller the hinged part 'l must be opened back, as shown in solid lines in Figs. l and 2, so as to permit the threads U to be moved past the thread R.

The vote having been recorded in the machine provided for that purpose, and it being desired to remove the ballot from the holder, this holder is taken to the ballot-box V shown in Fig. 3, and which is specially constructed for this purpose. The ballot-holder is placed upon the top of the box and the rollers are inserted under a spring W, which holds the lower roller down in contact with the roller X, placed in the top of the ballot-box near one corner, and which is operated by the crank or handle Y, and which rollerXis provided with a ratchet Z, with which the pawl A engages to prevent the roller X from ever being turned backward. When the'operator turns the roller X by means of the crank or handle Y, the rollers I are caused to revolve and draw the perforated ballot out of the holder and at the same time replace it by another ballot from the roll of .paper ready for the next voter. Before this ballot is placed in the position shown in Fig. 3 the hinged part T must be turned up over the frame S, so that the two threads U R will engage, as shown in solid lines in Fig. 3, and then when the roller X causes the roller P to revolve the revolution of the screw R will cause the thread U to move IOO IIO

the frames S T endwise until the inner end of the frame S strikes against the inner end of the thread R and the outer end of the frame strikes against the bearing Q, when the upper roller is locked in position by the two threads and can revolve no farther. These two rollers P bein g geared together by wheels B', the revolution of both is stopped, so that the outward movement of the paper is also stopped, and then the ballot is cut off in any suitable manner. In order to carry the ballot directly into the ballot-box after its outer end has been moved beyond the outer end of the ballot-holder, the two rollers C are used, the upper one of which is forced down upon the lower one by the spring D. The lower roller O is in direct contact with the large roller X, and when this roller X is revolved the two rollers C are caused to revolve at the same time, and thus cause them to catch the end of the ballot between them and draw it directly into the ballot-box V. While the ballot-holder is in position upon the top of the ballot-box it is held pressed into position by means of the. spring G', which bears against the outer end of its handle.

-No claim is made in this application to the perforationsthrou gh the ballot-holder,the concealing-slides E, the operating thumb-piece connected thereto, the rod O, the rods M, and the locking-plates J, for these are all shown and described in a separate application which bears even date herewith. Neither is any claim made to the vote-recording machine shown in Fig. 5, for this'is also shown and claimed in a separate application which bears even date herewith.

Having thus described my invention, I c1aim- 1. The combination, in a ballot-holder, of a frame adapted to receive a continuous strip of paper and having a series of perforations and spaces for the names of candidates opposite the said perforations, and a paperholder at one end of the said frame from which the paper is fed to the holder, substantially as shown.

2. The combinatiomin a ballot-holder,of a frame adapted to "receive a continuous strip of paper from which the ballots are formed, and having a series of perforations and spaces for the names of candidates opposite the said perforations, a paper-holder at one end of the said frame from which the paper is fed, and feeding-rollers journaled at the opposite end of the said frame, substantiallyas shown and described.

3. The combination, with a ballot-holder and the rollers for withdrawing the ballot, one of the rollers being provided ,with a screw-thread, of the sliding hinged frames S T, provided with athread U, substantially as shown.

4. The combination of the ballotholder, the rollers connected thereto, and a paperholder for holding the paper, with a ballotboX provided with an operating-roller for operating the rollers on the ballot-holder, substantially as set forth.

.5. The combination of a ballot-box provided with an operating-roller and a pair of rollers for drawing the ballot into the ballotboX, with a ballot-holder, a paper-holder secured thereto, rollers for withdrawing the ballots, and an automatically-acting mechanism for regulating the length of the ballots, substantially asspeeiied.

In testimony whereof Iaflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

K. DOUGAN. Witnesses:

F. A. LEHMANN, J. M. NEsBrr. 

